Posts

9 years

 My right joint is NINE years old, I can hardly believe it because it has been so long. I'm so glad that my joints have a much longer life span that what my surgeon told me. When my right joint was replaced I was told that it had a life expectancy of around 10-15 years and at 36 years old I would likely need to have it replaced a few times in my life. Now that they joints have been around longer, the new projected time is that it should hopefully (without complications) last my lifetime.  The surgery for my right joint went about as textbook perfect as you could get. The night of surgery I was using my Therabite and I was able to eat cheesecake from the diner next door. I stayed two nights in the hospital, mostly because we had to drive home two hours away and I was terrified of the pain that I would be in. I was in such agony before the surgery that none of the narcotics I had been prescribed were helping the pain. As it turned out, I stayed on narcotics less than a week foll...

My Long TMJ Journey

  Michelle’s Journey   As a preteen I was picked on by my brother’s friend for not having a chin. I had a huge overbite and could stick my thumb between my lower and upper jaw. Like most teenagers I received braces and was able to get my teeth straightened and headgear was used to correct my overbite. Around a year later I started having awful pain whenever I ate, and my jaw ached constantly. My bite was starting to regress even though I wore all my retainers exactly how I was supposed to. After meeting with the orthodontist, it was determined that we should plan for orthognathic surgery. I had four premolars removed and then my bite was shifted back to purposely create a larger overbite that surgery would then fix. At 18 before I even had my first surgery my jaw began to lock shut. I’d receive cortisone and lidocaine shots injected into my joint and then they would manipulate my mouth open. My oral surgeon was convinced my upcoming surgery would fix the problem. At ninete...